So I know this is a tad late but there was a mixup with interviews and I finally have my interview with Julie Kagawa! Hope you enjoy!
Why did you write The Immortal Rules?
I had been toying with writing a post-apocalyptic YA story after The Iron Fey, when my agent suggested I might want to try vampires. Although not terribly intrigued with the idea at first, I then had the thought of combining the two, and from there everything sort of fell into place.
What sort of research did you have to do for The Immortal Rules? How did you go about doing this?
A lot of research went into The Immortal Rules. This was the real world, albeit a futuristic, vampire infested world, but the real world nonetheless, and things had to make sense. A large part of my research involved watching the entire season of The Discovery Channel's Life After People, to see how long it would take buildings and other structures to fall apart. I researched what would happen to dams, power plants, bridges, ect. if there were no humans around to take care of them. What would happen to the wildlife? What would happen to normal pets? How long would it take for the plant life to retake everything? Do guns fire underwater? Lots of questions, and lots of research, but it was essential to make the world of The Immortal Rules even remotely believable.
Can you tell us about the sequel to The Immortal Rules....
I'm in the middle of writing the sequel now, and all I can say is that Allie will meet new and old faces, fight her Hunger, and discover a monstrous enemy who has dark plans for her and the entire world.
Did you want to be a writer as a child?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about 16. That’s when I started seriously trying to write novel-length manuscripts. Trust me, those early works were not things that should ever see the light of day. J Writing is a craft that takes a long time to learn and improve, and it took me fifteen or so years to get to the point where my work was of a publishable quality.
During that time, I pursued many different jobs… but most gravitated towards books or animals. Right before getting published, I was working as a dog trainer, and if I wasn’t writing, I would probably want to be training animals.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
Martial Arts. My hubby and I are practioners of kung-fu and Kali. We spend a lot of hours throwing each other around and hitting each other with sticks. It’s wonderful stress relief and great exercise. Also video games, which gives me both inspiration and needed down time.
